I’m still a little sick today, but after the events of the last couple of weeks in the world of romance, I put myself on a self-imposed deadline of today to start being once again vocal about awesome queer reads.
Luckily? I’d read three awesome queer reads on my recent vacation. The first was Yolanda Wallace’s True Colors. The second was Marshall Thornton’s The Ghost Slept Over (on audio, performed by Jason Frazier). Both were solid, enjoyable reading experiences and made for lovely companions on my trip.
After those two, I sat down with Queerly Loving 2, and it was just sublime. Now, I’m biased to the world of short fiction to begin with, but I sank into these stories, which started with the first one I’m going to talk about today, “More Than Anything.”
Queerly Loving 2, edited by G Benson and Astrid Ohletz, (ignore the cover image up there, which I realize says “#1”) has eight lovely little short pieces. “More Than Anything” kicks off the collection with a quick one-two punch that I really, really appreciated: it’s a sci-fi dystopia, and the queer is clear and present throughout. This is a story about a world that’s fallen to pieces, gangs rule the decaying city streets, and a tough young woman who can’t help but be a bit larger than life is out there hunting dangers for barter to trade away for her friend’s testosterone. It’s punchy, it’s quick, it’s complete, and it manages to be in turns funny, daring, and compassionate in turn. It’s a world I’d love to revisit, and how often do you say that about a city half in ruin run by gangs of mutants?
I while back I picked the brains of editors to ask how they organized anthologies, and the first story came up quite a bit: it has a lot of work to do, after all. It has to tell the reader so much about all the stories, even when it’s just a single story by itself. “More Than Anything” does that so very well: this collection, the story says, is gonna be awesome, unexpected, and so very, very queer. Buckle in.
I did, and I loved the ride.
Blurb: In part two of Queerly Loving, our authors bring you short stories with characters across the fantastic queer spectrum, with endings that will leave you warm and smiling. Trans love interests, demisexual characters trying to find their way in the world, bisexual characters dealing with a heartbreak in the best way, and lesbians on escapades.
Dragons roar into life, dystopian futures unfold, mermaids enjoy space voyages, and modern-day adventures will curl your toes and make you cheer. There are first kisses, friends that are like kin, and aromantic characters discovering their place among a queer-normative family.
Get ready for your queer adventure.
'Nathan Burgoine 